


Kiss Me Hard Before You Go

by iamamiwhoami



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Black Hood - Freeform, Cheronica (Non-Canon), F/F, F/M, Fangs was not wounded here, Fluff and Angst, I swear I love Choni and they're together here, Lana Del Rey Inspired Me, Light Angst, M/M, Riverdale, Toni is the best protective girlfriend, Veronica accepts that Cheryl is happy, Veronica cares about Cheryl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 19:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamamiwhoami/pseuds/iamamiwhoami
Summary: Cheryl Blossom was kidnapped by the Black Hood. Archie Andrews is focused on a rescue, Betty Cooper is thinking about her father, Jughead Jones wants them to be careful, Sweet Pea is being protective and Toni Topaz is just a step away from giving up all her sanity.But Veronica? Veronica Lodge is simply lost.Inspired by Lana Del Rey, Summertime Sadness.Defined after the events of episode 20, Shadow of a Doubt, Season 2.





	Kiss Me Hard Before You Go

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry, english is not my native language, but I really wanted to share this story with you all. I love Choni with all my heart and Cheronica was my first shipp, so I just have a lot of feelings about these amazing women. 
> 
> Choni and Varchie all the way, but it's Veronica trying to understand what she really feels about Cheryl while they try to save our beloved redhead. I promise there's soft Choni, Varchie and Bughead, plus Rosie and Kevangs, a little bit of angst, a little bit of action and just... Love. 
> 
> Please... Be gentle? I will love and accept any critical and I promise I'm trying to learn this awesome language! I hope you enjoy it.

 

Cheryl Blossom was kidnapped by the Black Hood.

Veronica is relieved that Archie is distracted in the center of the Whyte Wyrm, guiding search and rescue groups, to notice her undisguised disturbance. Her impeccable fingernails are drumming uncoordinated on the table while her heart is pounding like a drum, so deafening in her ears that she could swear that they all can hear the violent throb.

Betty, with rosy cheeks of fear and shame, stands beside Archie and begs, with tears in her eyes, that no one of the Serpents tries to kill the Black Hood, claiming that none of them is a murderer, omitting the fact that she has discovered the identity of the maniac. Jughead, aware of the secret, agrees and laces his fingers on hers in silent comfort, wishing that the gang doesn't go against the minimally rational positioning of all that they have already accomplished and of whom they will be fighting.

It's not as they planned.

Toni Topaz looks at them as if they have struck her face, offended and incredulous, almost exploding her terrified and vengeful fury when, surprisingly, Sweet Pea stands in the crowd.

"Cheryl Blossom is with Toni. It doesn't matter if that bastard lives or dies, we'll save her and protect her."

"Be reasonable." Jughead warns when Betty swallows. "Killing him would make us the same as him."

"He kidnapped Cheryl and has her as his prisoner in a place we don't even know where to start looking." Toni crosses her arms. "You heard what he said. He's torturing her psychologically and she's scared, Jug. She's alone and she didn't do anything wrong. How can you say we'll be like him after all the people he killed?"

She has a point, Veronica nods silently to herself. The Black Hood has Cheryl and Cheryl did nothing to deserve this, even under the judgment of a madman. Even though in that video, mysteriously sent to all the inhabitants of Riverdale, the maniac tries to prove otherwise.

Images of the content still plagues Veronica's mind like a movie that repeats itself and rewinds relentlessly, trying to drive her crazy with every second of terror.

_"You're not innocent. No Blossom is innocent." The distorted and somber voice accuses._

_And Cheryl, with tears streaming down her blurred face of makeup, trembling tied in a chair in an unidentified dark place, only opens her mouth and stutters, unable to utter a single word, her wide pleading eyes focused on the camera._

_"Reveal it, Cheryl Blossom. Reveal your greatest sin."_

_"I-I ..." Confused, she narrows her eyes, a wave of tears falling on her pale face. "Thornhill ... I ..."_

_"Turned the den you Blossom called mansion into a handful of ashes and ruins?" The Black Hood smiled monstrously. "It was a heroism of you. Reveal your greatest sin, Cheryl Blossom, from which you were saved and never punished."_

_Cheryl looks embarrassed and looks away from the camera, sobbing. While watching, Veronica notices Toni confused looking at the screen of Jughead's notebook, as if she had no idea what to expect. That's it, Veronica concludes. Cheryl could not tell her, probably afraid Toni would walk away._

_"I tried to commit suicide ... On the Sweetwater River. In t-the last winter."_

_As a sharp squeak exits from Toni's mouth, Veronica knows she was right._

_The Black Hood bends down Cheryl's back to press a hunting knife around her neck, a scream dripping from her throat, replaced by a sinister gasp._

_"Riverdale Sinners ... The only unforgivable act of Cheryl Blossom was self-inflicted, not like you, who destroy each other's lives with your expensive smiles and broken relationships. I give you the opportunity to be unselfish for once... You have two hours before her body is abandoned on the Sweetwater River, where it should have been lying last winter." He breathes. "Two hours."_

_Before the broadcast ends, everyone in the audience shudders as they read Cheryl's lips, mumbling soundlessly._

_"Toni ... Toni ... Toni ..."_

_Veronica does not understand all the reasons why she feels absent from oxygen, stunned, aching in unbalance as Toni nearly punches the notebook before Judhead pulls it and her fists hit the table, cracking the surface, calming only when Fangs strokes hershoulders and ask her to restrain herself for the sake of Cheryl._

_When the Serpent whispers to him the fear for her girlfriend, Veronica closes once and for all her thoughts on why she feels so mortally wounded by Cheryl's abduction. A truth about which it will not reflect. Reflecting will not be allowed._

Now, more than forty-five minutes after the video and the warning, after Sweet Pea, Archie, Toni and Reggie scour the outskirts of the Sweetwater River and find no traces, all the Serpents are ready to go on a quest around the the city.

"Maybe you're so worried about protecting the integrity of your gang because your dad hid Jason Blossom's body in the basement, what's another dead Blossom, right, Jughead?" Josie's bite comes from the adversary, no one expecting such behavior from her. There are tears in her eyes denouncing her shaken by Cheryl than anyone would deduce considering that they have just resumed their friendship.

Toni looks at the musician as if she doesn't want to admit that she can agree with her, she can't think so terribly of her own leader FP Jones.

"Hey... Come on. This is not fair." Kevin whispers with a gentle hand on Josie's shoulder.

"Guys, this is not going to get us anywhere." Archie sighs. "We're here to save Cheryl, what we feel about the Blossoms or even the Black Hood doesn't matter now, Cheryl is one of us." His soft eyes go through Veronica, Jughead, Betty, Josie, Reggie and Kevin. "In other way, she's one of you guys, too, I know that." And then through Toni, Sweet Pea, Fangs, and the other Serpents. "Let's focus on bringing her back to us in safety." His eyes falls one last time on Toni as if to say that they're going to bring Cheryl back to her.

A loud notification makes them run back to Jughead's notebook.

A new video of the Black Hood.

Cheryl stands before the camera, sitting on her own legs against a peeling wall. The long red curls cover her face and her chest moves abruptly, an unstoppable cry running to the point of making her breathless.

When her eyes find the camera under the command of the Black Hood, the blood trail from nose to lips and lips to chin, makes Toni scream in the quiet bar.

_"Cheryl Blossom tried to run away. That's what she does, always trying to get away from her miserable existence, be it in her disgusting behavior with all people, or hurting herself unnecessarily... Hurry up, Riverdale heroes. You have one hour."_

The transmission ends again with Toni's name abandoning her mouth as a silent mantra.

This time Toni hits and damages the notebook's keyboard and Veronica suddenly can't breathe. Her feet involuntarily run outward, the night wind hitting her as her body leans weakly over a wooden beam and the sobs spreading in her chest try to escape and break it irreversibly.

 _Vrrr. Vrrr._ – Surprisely, her cell phone vibrates in the pocket of her coat, stopping her from giving in.

An unknown contact and a video open under the screen and her eyes goes widen. She can not stop herself from opening it before telling the others.

_"Veronica Lodge." The Black Hood blew, clutching Cheryl's curls behind her with the knife at her throat. If she could, Veronica would break her cell phone tight in her trembling hands. "Why her? Why didn't you just falled under the ice and left yourself die frozen and drowned in the depths of your refuge with Jason?"_

_Cheryl gasps and shakes her head, squeezing her lips to keep from responding._

_"Why didn't you just leave a note she would be late to find? A farewell letter? You didn't wanted to die?" "It was she who prevented it, even if Archie Andrews saved you._

_"I wish it was her ...!" The cry echoes with tears. "I wanted her to save me, like back in the Bulldogs game... and Jay-Jay's funeral... Because I knew that no matter how horrible I was, she would try to save me."_

The knuckles of Veronica's fingers are white against the cell phone while the sobs finally breaks free. She dares to dial the number, struggling against her conscience by ordering her to tell others, as worried as she is, into the Whyte Wyrm.

_"Where is she?!" Requires. "Stay away from her you monster or I ..."_

_"Sweetwater River, come alone. If I suspect you brought support, all you'll find is a note to locate her dead body."_

_"We've been to river and ..."_

_"Your options are as limited as your time, Miss Lodge."_

Veronica Lodge has always prided itself on being resourceful and cunning, at least a good heritage of the perverse Hiram Lodge. Overwhelmed by her own incomprehensible emotions, for which she dares not give name and form, suffocating them within her as forbidden truths, too heavy to bear, she is no longer in perfect sanity, completely absent from second-hand, intelligent solutions.

When conscious of her deeds again, she is entangled in the forest, running over her thin heels towards the Sweetwater River. Sweat sticks black wires in her face, which transits between determination and fear; and she wonders if she's making a mistake. She should fear for her life, for the heart of Archie and Betty and Jughead and her mother. The fear that crosses it, however, is to think about the possibility that the Black Hood wishes her to see Cheryl die. And Veronica realizes, in her race against time, when tears makes her vision blurred through the dark woods on the outskirts of the Sweetwater River, that she doesn't know if she can bear to lose Cheryl.

In their strange friendship, refusing to see her as less than a friend, they experienced many indulgences. Cured battlefields and wounds in front of the fireplace. From poisonous insults to warm embraces. And all Veronica can think of now is to find her and bring her back to her arm...

No.

Not her arms.

For the arms of Antoinette Topaz. The girl Cheryl begged for in the terrifying videos of the Black Hood. The girl Cheryl treated as she treated everyone else, biting and defensive; but who refused to take revenge on her offensive verbiage. The girl who saw her broken and hugged her and didn't let her go under all the circumstances that screamed her to yield to human pride and let Cheryl destroy everything around her and herself until complete annihilation.

When Toni founds her, Veronica finally understands now, Cheryl was still drowning in that icy river. It is for her that Cheryl wants to return. How she wished she had her in the Vixens. How she wanted to share the bed with her at the sleepover. How she wanted to kiss her and keep her hand against hers until they got out of that nightmare of sexual conversion therapy. How she longed to cling to her in the backseat of Kevin's car and about who leaned over and was carried on her lap to the trailer park as if she feared to let her go and watch her disappear.

Toni Topaz. The girl Cheryl smiled at like never smiled at anyone.

A flickering light shines in the distance, and her legs almost flicker over her feet. She still doesn't understand this courage that dominates her with an uncontrollable ferocity, but yields to this, surrendering to the destiny that offered her two paths: Go alone or put together a plan with the others and risks Cheryl's life.

She couldn’t risk Cheryl. And that's why she needs to be brave.

In the descent of a clean trail, with dry leaves under her feet, before a flickering bonfire, he becomes more real than ever. Robust and taciturn, with very green eyes under the hood and the silver hunting knife gleaming in the darkness.

Cheryl is nowhere and the knot that squeezes Veronica's throat is so stifling that her voice fails to ring.

"I did exactly what you wanted ... W-where ..."

The maniac leans over the fire and picks up one of the large branches, raising it to light the vast open lake before them. Not far away, the little boat with red rims and oars floats in the stillness. Veronica doesn't need ask.

"Finally." He murmurs with satisfaction. "You would not want to let her die hypothermic."

Veronica wants to reply harshly, she wants to face him, either to provoke him or with epic airs expressing that she would not let Cheryl die at all, but her eyes are, sad and deep, fixed on the boat and Cheryl's , still firmly tied.

"What do you want?" She sibyl with unprecedented uncertainty in tone.

"You. You're the target. You and your family that destroyed so many lives, but you're the nucleus, Miss Lodge, losing you  will make Hiram and Hermione Lodge vulnerable, and the chaos will finally be set over Riverdale."

"Brilliant, how long did your stupid messed brain has taken to plan this?"

She should not mock an armed assassin. But when he sees Cheryl's way of shrinking further into the boat, she simply can not help it.

"Let me see her."

"You came to die, not to say goodbye."

"Nor can you be that bad." Persuades him. "Let me talk to her one last time."

The man bends his head curiously, with a strange gleam in his eyes, as if he wanted to witness the instant, whether of confession or of humiliation, whatever the impulse that will come from Veronica's heart to the wounded and exhausted redhead that was kidnapped because of her.

"So be it." He smiles as he bends down to unroll the long rope from a stake perched on the soft earth, slowly bringing the boat to the shore.

"Why not Archie?" Veronica converses as she quietly approaches the fire, crouching near the burning branches. "Why not Betty or even Jughead? Why Cheryl?"

"She was alone in Thistlehouse." He shrug, without turning. "Easy preys saves efforts. Your family knows the tactic."

"No. You chose her for a reason. What kind of serial killer would make a naive choice, not sure that your plans would work?" Cheryl was not an easy prey for being alone. You knew I would come for her. "

"Another trait of the filth on your blood."

"I'm a Lodge, after all." Veronica holds the bite so as not to lure him, watching the boat approaching as she tries to take one of the branches without betraying herself.

"Aren't you afraid to die? You have a life of privileges ahead..."

"Why do you act like it matters to someone like you?" Bites, pulling the branch with one of the dark, reddish tips of the fire, rising equally silent.

It is a stroke of luck. The man remains down on his back, bringing the boat slowly as if to torture her.

"I'm curious, which is not common." Surprisingly, he laughs. "You're going to die for a Blossom, no one who values the life you have would die for a Blossom, they're all marked, all destined for disloyalty, selfishness and corruption."

The boat is finally fully lit, and Cheryl's beautiful eyes light up as she stumbles upon Veronica armed with the rat-boned branch of the Black Hood. Inexplicably, like everything else this bleak night, Veronica feels more courageous than she ever tried to be when Cheryl looks at her.

"She's not. She's not marked. She's not destined to be like them because inside her she's nothing like any of them." Her eyes fill with tears at the admission under Cheryl's surprised gaze. "And now, with the help of someone special, she's finding out who she is..."

"I assume that someone special is not y..."

Veronica don't let him finish his sentence. Taking advantage of his foolish confidence under the stupid hood and the silly talk of purging sins by killing people, she descends with all the force that finds the branch on his head and his back, making him howl with pain and fall on the ground in a brutal thud.

There's no time to plan anything but run. She runs up to Cheryl and pulls her off the boat, still dominated by the adrenaline of recklessness. She pulls out Cheryl's ropes, scratching her arms in the process, which the redhead doesn't even seem to feel. Interlacing their hands, they both run into the forest as the maniac steps into recovery, staggering to follow them, snarling like a downcast animal.

Cheryl's hand against hers is like another charge of strength. Her eyes meet in the race, and an absolute gratitude shines in the Cheryl's dark eyes, probably in stark contrast to Veronica's unbelievers eyes, because they succeed, because Cheryl is not dead and it doesn't matter if she runs into Archie's arms and the redhead runs for Toni's arms, everything tends and must and needs toend well. Her red cloak is like an alert in the woods, and Veronica has never been so grateful for the excess of the red color in front of her.

But the unreachable hope suffers it's downfall.

Veronica feels the impact of two strong hands grabbing her coat and pulling her down, her body hitting the ground abruptly. Immediately Cheryl's sharp nails prostrate in her arms and drag her trying to bring her up while the maniac, now angry, also gets up to reach them again.

Suddenly, the Black Hood stops and pulls out a gun, staring at them without saying anything. Veronica's first instinct is to make herself Cheryl's shield, but the redhead is struck by the same instinct to protect the one who came to save her and both curl with pleading eyes, as if asking the other simply let go.

The murderer's gloved finger don't pull the trigger.

It is like a light radiating in the dark forest in lost shades of pink and brown. Coming from some unexpected place, Toni Topaz violently hits a crowbar in the man's stomach, making him squirm. Veronica does not lose as Cheryl seems dizzy and fascinated to see her Serpent fearlessly to her rescue.

The guns is lost between the leaves and branches on the ground, but Toni is not able to knock the man down. The Black Hood struck her outstretched arm and the crowbar rolled to the ground. Toni is pushed and pressed by the throat to the nearest tree, grunting in pain.

"Toni!" Cheryl tries to run, but the Serpent's gaze is so commanding to Veronica that her only reaction is to hold the redhead where they are.

"The next would be all of you, Serpents, dealers, thugs, scum of the South!" The Black Hood spits his fury over Toni's red face, which struggles trying to hit him with her short legs and heavy boots.

"Veronica, please!" Cheryl begs to free herself. "This is my fault! He's going to kill her, I can't los... Let me go!"

Veronica's gaze mirrors Toni's as if the two screamed at the same time as none of this is Cheryl's fault, as if they needed to protect her from any kind of inner destruction.

Fortunately, Jughead is the next to come up swiftly, grabbing the killer by the side, on his trunk, rolling down with him. Betty runs over the thick roots of the tree and catches Toni, stunned by the strangling, before she reaches the ground.

The cavalry finally found them.

The Black Hood's fist hits Jughead's jaw, but before he can dominate it, Sweet Pea jumps on him furiously, followed by Archie, Fangs, Kevin, and Reggie. The five boys gather on the villain and beat him until he stops moving and Sweet Pea kneels on his back, holding his hands behind him, immobilizing him.

"Josie is bringing Sheriff Keller, soon they'll be here." Reggie gasps, tossing her hair back in relief. Archie wears the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the blood on Jughead's chin and Fangs and Kevin help Sweet Pea keep the maniac contained.

Veronica awakens from the chaotic events when Cheryl's hand squeezes hers for a moment before leaving her and running awkwardly, as Betty frees Toni from her care and runs to embrace her wounded boyfriend. Toni ignores the weakness in her body and runs to Cheryl as well, finding her in a hug that takes them fall, Cheryl in her lap, strangely sitting on the ground. Toni can't even feel the pain when she has Cheryl's arms wrapped around her neck, too relieved to feel anything but all her balance coming back.

Archie keeps Veronica in her embrace, too relieved, concerned, failing to be angry that she had gone alone to meet the Black Hood, but all Veronica can hear is Cheryl's whispers against Toni's shoulder, "I knew you would come for me. " and "I wanted you to come so much, TT ..." and Toni, with determination, "I'll always come for you."

And when the unexpected laugh of the redhead echoes in her ears; when Toni wears the scarf on her belt to wipe the dried blood under Cheryl's nose and lips; when Cheryl murmurs with fascination, "Toni, I lo... I-I lo ..." and Toni laughs sweetly, joining her forehead and chattering "I 'lo' you too, Cheryl Blossom"; Veronica clings to Archie's comfort, breathing noisily, but perhaps for the first time since he ran through the woods with Cheryl.

The sirens of the cars echoes, brightening the forest, and Archie asks her a moment to hug and greet the other boys, unexpectedly kneeling to embrace Toni. Cheryl hesitates to let go of her, but turns around and finds Veronica's eyes in a jubilant commotion, displaying a large smile.

It's still not the smile she gives Toni all the time, but it's so beautiful...

And it's the first time Cheryl smiles at her like that. As if she's free, as if she's whole. But the full innocence that comes from her eyes to Veronica also shows a fraternal gratitude, as if Cheryl offered her all her emotions, but the emotions of one great friend to another, confident and intimate; immune to the almost aggressive tension they once shared.

Cheryl hugs her and thanks her repeatedly, because Veronica came to save her again and somehow she knew that, like Toni, she would come. But this time, unlike all the others, where Cheryl looked and smiled at her as if searching for something distant and unnameable; with an absurd affective lack; with the dark immensity that Veronica never dared utter, but she knew that she was between a feeling of passion and a sense of confusion over why she held out her hand; this time Cheryl smiles and thanks only with gentleness and joy, as if nothing else needed, solidifying her silent friendship full of scars.

Turning to Toni, Cheryl finds Josie running to them with the sheriff and four armed officers surrounding the perimeter. They both smile and Josie caresses her face for a moment before going to meet Reggie, knowing who Cheryl wants to be with now and there will be time to absorb the relief that embraces them.

Cheryl is again on Toni's lap, surrounded by her arms as if the Serpent holds the whole world to protect and flatter.

"I'm so sorry." New tears, though less fearful, sprout beneath Cheryl's eyelids. "I wanted to tell you about the River. I tried, Toni. I swear I wanted to tell you everything."

"You don't have to." Toni comforts her, smiling. "I would understand if you told me and I understand why you didn't. It doesn't change anything, nothing can keep me away from you. Will you forgive me for not being with you when everything happened?"

"Toni ..." Cheryl takes in some pink threads from her guilty face behind her ear.

"I'm not going to leave you alone anymore, Cheryl. Even if I have to stand guard and camp in front of your gates."

"Thistlehouse has enough rooms, you know ..." Cheryl smiles insightfully and sweetly.

"Blossom!" Sweet Pea interrupts them fervently. "When are you going to stop getting into trouble? Is not it the second time that Toni plays the White Knight for you?" The broad smile denounces his mischief.

Cheryl thinks about saying that's no, it's not the second time. That Toni saved her long before that terrible insane sanatorium. That Toni saved her from far more than a serial killer. That Toni began to save her when he took her hand under hers and said all she ever wanted: 'You have to know your mother is wrong.'

Involved by the joy of the moment, she keeps this confession to her own heart.

"Where the fun would be? Toni will come to save me, anyway." She scans her shoulders, smiling in that elegant, superior way that only Cheryl Blossom can do.

"No Serpent is alone." Toni whispers to her, stroking her back, and Cheryl's eyes glitter at her in affirmation.

"She's not officially a Serpent, Antoinette ..." Sweet Pea whistles with joined hands, amused.

"Pea ..." Toni warns.

"You know, Blossom, there's this rule, a dance, actually ..."

"Sweet Pea, I swear to..."

The ultimatum is silenced when Cheryl catches her jaw, leading her into a kiss so intense and intimate that Sweet Pea raises his arms in defeat and walks away smiling while Cheryl's slides her tongue inside Toni's mouth deeply and needly.

Veronica watches them as if she's still lost in herself.

"How did you find us?" Veronica tries to sound casual to Betty, who rushed to embrace her, relieved by her safety.

"Your cell phone." The blonde smiles, pulling Kevin by the shoulder.

"I will not apologize for tracking you this time, but I promise to ask when we need to rescue you again."

She can't help smiling at the handsome boy and hugging them two at once, as if only now she realizes she could've never see them again. In the warmth of her friends' arms, however, she can't take her eyes off Toni and Cheryl and the way Toni gently crawls her teeth around her neck and Cheryl laughs with all her heart. The tasty laugh, as well as the smile, reserved exclusively for Toni.

When Sheriff Keller carries the Black Hood, not yet revealed his identity, to Betty's relief, the distinguished group begins to take shelter on their bikes and Kevin and Reggie's cars. Veronica, still waiting in the passenger seat while Kevin and Archie talk in front of the truck, contemplates surprise when Cheryl kisses tenderly the forehead of Toni, that seats with understanding eyes, whistling for Betty to rise in the rump since Jughead, with the swollen face, will have to be taken on her motorcycle by another Serpent, and the redhead makes her way toward them.

The bikes make reckless zigzags back to the Whyte Wyrm. Archie celebrates thoughtfully about how citizens will likely have good eyes for the Serpents after capturing the Black Hood. Kevin hums a very loud classical song as he follows the caravan. In the darkness of the backseat, Veronica and Cheryl just look at each other, an instant of intimate softness hovering over them, until Cheryl slides her hand and holds hers comfortably.

"You saved me. You could have died, Veronica."

"Veronica Lodge, dying in the middle of a mosquito-infested forest?" She blinks seductively, as he always does in her absolute charisma. "It's not happening, Bombshell."

Cheryl looks at her hands together for a moment before looking deeply into her.

"Josie... Even before I do... That..." She admits ashamed. "We were always together just inside the school, and at the Vixens gigs and presentations, and Ginger and Tina... I think they were more afraid of what they really enjoyed being with me."

"Cheryl ..." Veronica entwines her fingers.

"Friends ..." She shrugs. "I never knew very well how."

"You know I'll always come for you too, don't you?" Veronica doesn't withdraw her truth, though she doesn't understand why she needs to emphasize this fact, almost regretting it a second later. Because she doesn't want to compare herself to Toni, because Toni is everything and, tormented in admitting it, Toni would never let her upseting herself as Veronica feels she has left her so many times. She just needs Cheryl to know.

"I know." The redhead smiles. "Because you're my friend, Ronnie."

Veronica appreciates the sweet statement echoing in her thoughts, with Cheryl reclining on her shoulder, realizing that there is nothing more to say, nothing more to stands out.

In the Whyte Wyrm, FP Jones applauds his gang and demands that everyone drink for free until the last remaining standing, satisfied with the heroism that proves the worth of their Serpents, especially Jughead and Toni.

"And Veronica Lodge." Cheryl's voice proudly fills the bar. "The bravest heroine of this daily anarchic night in Riverdale."

When the Serpents howl joyfully and they all raise their glasses and bottles, Veronica feels a strange heat in her chest. A new satisfaction. To be, in some way, loved by a genuine act. Not your name, your seduction or your fortune. Not your superiority and elegant good taste in every way. Something good. Something pure. Because she will not tell anyone, but she would've died as often as needed on the Sweewater River to save Cheryl.

Although the immense amount of alcohol and voices, there is softness in the bar atmosphere. Archie joins two chairs and lies down wearily, resting his head on Veronica's lap, closing his eyes when she strokes his hair. Betty applies Josie's blistering remedy and colorful band-aids on Jughead's face, which stops whimpering when she kisses the last clean bruise on his chin. Josie is singing with Reggie and the drunken Serpents surround them in an out of tune chorus. Surprising Veronica, Kevin seems very comfortable with Fangs leaning on his back, trying to teach him his billiards techniques.

It's strange, but rewarding. Veronica still feels exhausted by the events, so imprisoned in her inner conflicts that she must refuse the bombastic duet with Josie on the small stage. She's still thinking about Cheryl and the meaning of her insistent and unavoidable presence in her thoughts. Above all, how her heart still beats warm and fast, convincing herself that Cheryl is okay, that this hasn't broke her, not this time, not anymore, never again.

Archie is here. Archie is the most lovable and generous boy she's ever met and she knows she loves him. She doesn't know what's in her heart for Cheryl Blossom that seems to now crush all the rest. She doesn't feel she can harbor two loves at the same time and repeats to herself the certainty that she loves Archie Andrews.

She doesn't know exactly what she feels for Cheryl, though.

But if it is not love of some sort, dragging her to a crossroads of torment and comfort, she'll never know how to name.

While the young folks on the South side and on the North side celebrate together a successful rescue and a killer caught, in the Whyte Wyrm, with beer, music, and friendly, acidic taunts on both sides; Veronica abandons her daydreams and observes, squinting, enveloped in their bubble, Cheryl sitting on the counter and Toni standing between her legs; clinging to her trunk like a needling koala puppy, eyes closed as the redhead caresses the pink and brown hair; unlike her, with her eyes wide and soft; with the other hand tracing shapes in one of the arms that holds her so close.

Archie is here and Toni is there. Veronica doesn't know what she would do if this configuration were not so real and so full of devout feelings from Archie and Toni; she doesn't know what she would do if Toni was not there for Cheryl and if Cheryl didn't show herself so in love with the Serpent; She doesn't know if she would break Archie's heart, this other redhead that she loves so much, to take care of Cheryl's heart.

But Archie is smiling at her in her lap as if she is a deity.

Toni is smiling, her ear absorbing Cheryl's heartbeat, as if it were her favorite song all over the world.

And Cheryl is smiling at Toni in that way that she could never smile at anyone else. Smiling in that way that everyone wants someone to smile at them, as if that smile so unique and specific said:

_You are extraordinary._

_You are my favorite person._

_You're like finding yourself and coming home._

Veronica, finally allowing herself to admire one last time when Toni rubs her cheek on Cheryl's collarbone and pulls out a sharp, dazzling laugh of her; She leans over Archie in a sigh, ignores a distant pain in her heart, closes her eyes in tranquility for the first time tonight, and simply ... Smiles.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my first work! 
> 
> See you guys soon! :)
> 
> Find me on Twitter: @dokkstormur


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